What is hyperautomation?
Hyperautomation is a strategy for automating business processes end to end, in large numbers, by combining several automation technologies under one plan and one set of controls. Industry analysts popularized the term. It extends intelligent automation, which pairs robotic process automation (RPA) with AI, into a program that covers many processes at once.
Each technology fills a different gap. Process mining shows where time is lost. Workflow automation moves cases between steps. RPA operates older applications through their screens when no integration exists. Intelligent document processing reads forms and emails, and AI agents handle steps that need judgment, such as interpreting an unusual request.
Hyperautomation in practice
A managed service provider automates new-user onboarding for its clients. A language model reads each request and extracts the name, role, start date, and required applications. A workflow opens the ticket and creates the account and assigns licenses through vendor integrations. An RPA bot handles one client’s older line-of-business application, which has no integration. A technician approves any privileged group membership before it takes effect, and the client’s documentation updates automatically.
What to watch for
- Ask which processes a vendor will automate and how results will be measured, since the term is often used as a sales label.
- Simplify a process before automating it, because automation makes a broken process fail faster.
- Keep identity, logging, and approval rules in one governance layer, since every added tool brings its own credentials.